Monday Morning Star Count, July 20, 2015

I had such and amazing time at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show last weekend...  It was super cool to finally be there and to see my quilts on display all over town.

Travel Quilts #2 and #3 were hanging and they looked so... intricate from across the street or down the block.  I guess I forget that I stitched them from 1.5" diamonds?  

I had 3 other quilts in the show too, maybe I'll post about them later, I want to keep the focus on EPP today.  Of course I found some time to work on Travel Quilt #6 that weekend:

and got in a bit of stitching on TQ#5 during the car ride too:

I'm back home in NY now, but omg, I am SO in love with Oregon.  The quilt shops, people!  The quilt shops alone are reason enough to buy plane tix and rearrange your schedules to get out there.  And I didn't even make it to that many (4 maybe?).  It was enough, though.  I came home with an extra suitcase (I had to carry the 5 quilts...) and probably around 20 yards of fabric.  Quilting heaven, I'm telling ya...

I have cut up a bunch of new fabric for hex-diamonds and I hope to get some stitching done throughout the rest of the summer.  I'm also working on some big machine pieced projects though, so I've got to balance my time.  Yesterday it was just plain too hot to quilt.. maybe this week I can convince the kids to hang out at the public library for a while (or anywhere else with free air conditioning?).

Now it's your turn.  Who has been making progress on their EPP this week?
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Monday Morning Star Count 2015/2

I did something rather special this week.  Something I haven't done in a long time.
I got on a plane by myself.  No kids.  And I sewed.


Travel Quilt #5 is steadily growing.  Diamond #18 and part of 19, and lots of pieced sashing hexies.

Your turn~

Monday Morning Star Count 2014/34

The Chicago Edition..
I brought the boys to visit my mom this week.  Kind of crazy and hectic because I've got classes to prep (I'll go back to teaching again this fall) and two kids to get ready for school, but mom wanted to see them, so we shuffled a few things around to make it happen.
I didn't even pack my sewing in my carry on, as I usually would.  This was my first flight with the two boys on my own and an adventure it was.. almost missing the flight due to NYC traffic, then an hour on the plane, on the ground at LGA, and once we were in the air, they rerouted us to Grand Rapids due to heavy storms over O'Hare.  What seemed like almost an entire day of travel later, I was sitting in my grandma's house with two tired and hungry kids.  The transition has been tough, neither kid likes being away from Costas all day, and I think George especially is not up for the type of "visiting with family" that mainly involves mom sitting with other ladies at the table having coffee.  Not to mention the lack of a video game console in this house.. but I'll do my best to make it more interesting for him as the week goes on.
Here's the few pieces of my new project that I was able to baste this week.  Don't forsee myself getting a lot done while I'm here, but you never know.

Monday Morning Star Count 2014/28

Good morning!  I have progress to report!

As promised, I pulled out Travel Quilt #5 and started to make some sense of the mess. With our mini vacations inside this big Greek trip, my travel sewing kit has been packed, repacked, repurposed, and tossed around far more than I'm comfortable with.  Right now Travel Quilt #5 resides in a large salad bowl..

With all the chaos, I inadvertently switched the outer colors on some of the diamonds (so much for all that careful pre-trip planning I did back in NY) and now I see I have too many of certain outer colors and not enough balance in some rows.  So for the moment I can't stitch much together until I finish some more.  Motivation to keep going I guess?

Monday Morning Star Count 2014/24

Happy Summer!  I don't know if it's summer where you are, but I'm on vacation and totally feeling it~

We are in Paros at the Anezina Village Hotel (still scheming to pull together a quilt retreat here, how about June 2015,  anybody?) and the cicadas are chirping very loudly.  It's beautiful here, but I haven't found any time to sew.  Jack was sick last week and I caught whatever he had so as much as I'm enjoying being here, whenever we're not doing something as a family, all I want to do is sleep.  Hopefully it will run its course and I'll be back to myself soon.
Here are my updates from the last week..

I stitched part of one hex-diamond (worked on it while waiting at the salon), and cut a bunch of fabric for future hexies..

Have you guys been more productive?  Please link up below. 

This week marks the 1 year anniversary of the US/Canada release of Quilting on the Go and I want to give a HUGE Thank you to everyone who has bought, read, posted about, or shared my book.  I love hearing from you guys and seeing pictures of what you've made.   Many people have sent me pictures and emails lately but I haven't had time at the computer to respond.  Please know that I do appreciate what you've sent and I'm sorry life doesn't let me spend more time online right now.  I thought we'd do a little experiment this week though.. if you have read Quilting on the Go, could you please just let me know in the comments below?  I don't have access to how well the book is doing outside of the US, so if you comment I can kind of see how far it has reached.. there are translations in German, Dutch, Hungarian, Spanish and Estonian so far.. if you have one of those editions, let me know!

Ok, now let's see who else has been stitching this week...
(anyone is welcome to join the linky party at any time this week, don't be shy!  we want to see your EPP!)

Yellow Bears Paw

We are back from Chicago now, and I can say it was a nice visit.  My kids were good during 4 days of driving and everyone was happy to see us when we arrived and sad to see us leave.  We were lucky to have beautiful weather while we were there and we got to spend a lot of time outdoors, smelling the suburban spring air that immediately brings me back to my childhood.  I'm glad my boys could experience that too.

The main purpose of the trip was to see my family, especially my mother, whose long-term illness took a bad turn earlier this month after a lengthy plateau.  Many of you contributed both quilts and funds to the benefit held for her in 2012 (past posts are here and here), and I wanted to give a sort of update, as well as show off the quilt I made for her.

Earlier this month my mother went into the hospital for several days.  I was told that low sodium was causing her to become confused and disoriented.  Several times she would wake up in the morning and not know why she was in a wheelchair.  She began having problems with memory and though she has good days and bad, it was a shock to have her ask me what my children's names were, or where we lived.  I was happy I could see her, but now that I'm home again, I'm silently aching for the loss of the mother I knew.  I'm not writing this for anyone's sympathy, just to tell the story of the quilt I made, that I clung to, pouring my love, regret, and grief into each stitch.  That binding took forever!  And I was sad to leave the quilt, knowing that it gave me comfort these past few weeks.  I hope it also brightens her days, helps her remember me, and at the very least keeps her warm in the too-cold air-conditioned house.

 The top of the quilt is made from a yellow woven fabric that I got at my LQS.  The centers of each bear paw came from the 11 women in the 15 Minutes Play Scrap bee from 2011.  I pieced them into bears paw blocks, starting in 2011 and finishing the last 3 earlier this month.  I used wide sashing of the yellow and put the extra Scrap bee blocks as corner stones.  I thought I'd leave it there and back the quilt in the black/off-white dot, but it made a really nice border instead.  The backing is an organic cotton from Jo-Anns.  It's bound in light turquoise, one of the same fabrics I used in samples for Quilting on the Go.  Final size-- I didn't measure, but it's a bit less than twin.  Fits on mom's hospital bed just fine though.

Mom, I don't know if you get on your laptop much anymore, but if you do, I hope you can read this, and if not, I hope someone reads it to you.  I love you so much.  Thank you for believing in me and for letting me follow my dreams.  I hope we can come see you again soon.

Monday Morning Star Count 2014/21

It's still Monday, but it's far from morning..
we're almost done with our road trip and I've got a few hex-diamonds to show for it..

I don't have an exact count today... all of the units are stuffed into a plastic bag under the front seat of the car.  I want to start joining them so I'll have to lay them out soon.  Pics to follow shortly on Instagram..

I crammed an awful lot of quilty goodness into this trip and each day deserves its own blog post, but let's see when and if I've got the time to jot them all down.  Give me a few days to sort my photos and we'll see what I come up with.
I would have posted this on time, but our internet connection (and free time) has been sporatic on this trip.  I'd like to say things will be back to normal next week, but we're entering our Summer-mode where routines get tossed out the window and we hit the road (or air, or beach) running.  I crave routine though, so I'll do my best to keep MMStarCounts on track.  A little encouragement from the crowd never hurts..

Who wants to show us what you've got?

Hey Ohio!

Are you in northern Ohio (or willing to drive there to see me?) and curious about EPP?
I'll be giving a short lecture and hands-on English Paper Piecing demo at M&E Quilt Shoppe in Sandusky on Thursday next week (5/22). 
All the information is here on the shop's website.

I'll be showing off a few of my quilts and projects, signing books, and converting everyone to EPP.  It would be great to see some of you there~

EPP Demo and Book Signing Thursday, May 22, 2014    12-2p.m. Mabel & Ethel's Quilt Shoppe 279 E. Market Street, Sandusky, OH 44870
419-502-9123
ME@mequiltshoppe.com Space is limited.  Advanced registration required.  For more info, click here.

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Virginia Getaway

Last weekend we decided to take a last minute trip to see some friends in northern Virginia.  I eluded to it in my Monday post, and sure enough, we got caught in a snowstorm.  It was great to see our friends, and a quick shout out on Instagram pointed me in the direction of Finch Sewing Studio in Leesburg.  Eleni and I hopped in the car (leaving the kids with the husbands) and stopped by just as the snow started to fall.

The owner, Nicole, was very friendly (You can read her blog here, or follow her on IG-- @finchsewingstudio) and her shop is just adorable.  It has such a great atmosphere, I don't think my photos could capture how happy it feels just to be inside.

 It was great to go in with Eleni, who has been asking me to make a quilt for her wall for a few months now.  She isn't a quilter, and it was helpful to be able to talk about fabric, pattern, and design using the examples in the shop to get a better feel of what she likes and doesn't like.  I'm still thinking of what I might make..

I treated myself to some modern fabrics (bought in person, not online!  it was so nice!), and a few notions.  I finally got a hera marker, can't wait to put that to use.

We also discussed the possibility of my coming down for an event/signing/epp demo some time later in the summer.  I really hope we're able to make that happen.  I have so many online friends in the DC Modern guild that I'd really like to meet in person.  I'll let you know what we sort out.

Posting from Paros~

I'm super happy the blog tour has been going so well.  Thank you so much for visiting my blog and all the others on the tour, and for talking about or buying my book!
I know it's crazy, but I'm not even at home to enjoy all this book tour madness this week, we're actually in Paros and this is how I'll be blogging for the next few days..

baby on my lap and everything.

I know I posted a picture of the ferry boat this morning,  but this is Paros:

 It is a small-ish island in the Aegean sea and it's really quite lovely.  We have been coming to the same resort (Anezina Village) for the past 3 years and not only does it have excellent food and beautiful beaches, but I always manage to get a lot of quilting done when I'm here.  A large part of the Travel Quilt was stitched here..

(We are lucky enough to be staying in the same bungalow again this year, which makes me very sentimental about the quilt and book and everything..)

Anyway, with the baby it has been harder to find sewing time this trip, but I'm determined.  He's gotta nap sometime, right?
Wishing you all lots of hand stitching time this summer~
Love from Paros,
Jess

Summer



Our last week in Greece was spent here:

Santa Maria Beach, Paros.



 And not surprisingly, I didn't get a lot of quilting done. 

Adjusting to life back in NY took a lot longer than I was expecting, jetlag was harsh (almost 10 days to get over it) and our new summer "routine" kinda hit me like a ton of bricks.  For weeks I've felt like I've been trying to dig myself out from a constant avalanche. 
I am very very happy to be home though, and happy to be working again.  My summer job rocks and I get to spend my mornings busy and surrounded by fun people.  I've also had the chance to meet up with many many quilting friends who have been coming over to help me finish a big project, like a good old fashioned IRL quilting bee.  I keep meaning to take pictures, but we're usually too busy stitching and gossiping to remember to take any. 
When they come over again, I'll put my camera (or I should say my phone) on the table so I don't forget.
My sewing room is a bit of a mess and I'm quite behind on virtual Bee obligations, which I hope to get to soon.  There are only so many hours in the day though, and you can't spend all of them inside, right?  Here's to hoping summer's intensity wears off soon..

Easter

 So Easter (which seems to last forever here) has come and gone..
It brought with it lots of church, lots of candles, and way too much food (though not enough chocolate, and absolutely NO marshmallow peeps!)
A good time was had by all, but somewhere in the middle both George and Costas got sick, and now we're just hoping for a quick recovery for both. 
Unfortunately with only one "briza" (plug converter), I can only charge one device at a time, and it's usually the cell phone or the laptop that wins, leaving the poor camera battery to never see a full charge, and hence, not enough photos of any of the Easter festivities.  I did manage to get the above shot of Geoge before he got too dirty, but we missed out on a family shot of the 3 of us.  It's really cute, I think he's looking more and more like Costas every day. 

Once everyone is healthy again we'll try for another photo.. maybe this weekend at George's name-day party?  We'll see..

Tuesday Laiki

One of the simple pleasures of life in Athens is the local "Laiki" which is somehow a cross between a flea market and a farmer's market.  You can buy everything from toilet paper to underwear to fresh fish..
Within walking distance from our house there are two weekly street markets-- to the east on Mondays and to the north on Tuesdays.  Today I strolled through on my way to pick up George from school (which he loves, btw)..

Most of the women come with small hand carts to carry their purchases home, but I wasn't planning on buying much so I didn't think to bring anything like that.  I learned a valuable lesson today though-- don't go to Laiki hungry..
I ended up spending all the cash in my pocket and had to carry home a few kilos-worth of produce.  but it was worth it.

Tuesday's Laiki doesn't have a lot of "stuff," mostly food.  I did buy two t-shirts for 2euros each, and I was tempted to get some cotton scarves, but I held out this week.  Let's wait and see when I cave into the temptation..
I did come home with half a kilo of strawberries which George promptly ate when we got back to the house.  I also picked up a bag of shelled pistachios and guiltily ate those myself..

I have a feeling by the end of our trip I will have tried everything they have at least once.  Do it while you can, right?

Athens in early spring

I've never been to Greece this time of year before, so many things are new to me..like lemons and oranges still on the trees in our garden:

Enjoying a sea-side playground in sweaters and jackets:

Spring fashion: (knee high boots in late March?  and I only brought flats!)  plus everyone is still bundled up in warm jackets-- this 60~70 degree weather is still really cold for them.
It's cold for us too-- concrete construction keeps the houses much cooler inside than it is outside-- something I've always been grateful for in the summer (75 inside is better when it's 95 outside), but the heaters are off already and we're pretty chilly inside now-- thank god I thought to bring slippers and my fleece hoodie!

Many thanks to all your good packing suggestions, I managed to get all our stuff in 4 suitcases and 2 carry-ons that clocked in just at or under the weight limit.  My sewing machine made it fine, but I haven't bought a transformer yet so I can't plug it in.  Thankfully, Theodora has offered to take me to the electronics shop, so I should call her this week and arrange to do that. Today we went to the local public nursery school to check it out and introduce ourselves.  George will start to phase in later this week and will go 5 mornings a week from next month.  Then we'll find our balance and routine here.

Already I'm finding lots of time to sew, especially at night after George goes to bed.  We don't have a tv in our "apartment" upstairs and there's not much else to do besides laundry and playing on line.. I realized quickly what a Netflix addict I am-- it's killing me that we can't get access here.  Also terrible that the American tv network websites will not show full episodes (hate to say it, but I miss fox.com!  i miss Glee and House!) when you're out of the country.  I've resorted to enriching myself through Ted.com and browsing the complex world of quilting podcasts.  Btw, if you have any free online entertainment to suggest, I'd love to hear it~  which are your favorite quilting podcasts?  What about streaming live radio?  My94x.com was good for a while, but you can only quilt to the Cure for so long..
Need to charge the camera battery and then I can take some pictures of my new sewing space.  So far I've been a bit too distracted by the perfect backdrop and multiple photo ops like this one:

Making it fit

In my last post I hinted at an extreme packing nightmare and upcoming travel plans.. well,  this is the situation:

We are going to Greece early this year and staying for quite a while-- the entire spring actually.  Important stuff has been arranged at both ends (housesitter in NY, registering George for preschool in Athens) but now all that's left is the packing...

In past years I have always just brought handwork with me, but now that we'll be there for so long, C will be working and George will be at school, I decided this is the year to pack the sewing machine.  And.. fabric.  I've got a few special quilts and projects to get done before the summer and thought this would be a good chance to work on them.  Quilt fabric and notions I'm used to are almost impossible to get locally in Athens (if you know where to buy things like 100% cotton thread, Let Me Know!!) and rather than pay to ship them, I'm just taking an extra suitcase. 
Before I get comments saying how frivolous this sounds, let me point out that I'm already packing two season's worth of clothes, shoes and accessories for 3 people for 3 months.  Ask any mom who's tried, unless you want to look like tourists the entire time (same 5 t-shirts and 2 pair of pants worn in rotation), getting all that into 3 suitcases isn't easy.    Believe me, the extra space won't be all thread and fabric.  Of course there are some presents (who comes from America and doesn't bring presents?) and  I'm also planning to entertain the cousins with one kick a** American style egg hunt for Easter, thanks to the Oriental Trading Company.  So yeah, packing is going to be a challenge. 

If you've been reading for a few years, you know I am a seasoned traveler, but even me, whose child has been on over 30 planes before age 4, is anxious about this.. any suggestions?  What are your best travel and packing tricks?
I had grand ideas of whipping up a bunch of Jeni's draw string pouches but there just won't be time.  Maybe I can get some done before the vacation in our vacation (Paros again, woo hoo!)
At this point all I can do is take a deep breath and dive in.. wish me luck~

Service

It was time.  Well, waaay overdue actually.  Yesterday I took my little Kenmore for service.

It had not been professionally serviced since I got it for my college graduation, 11 years ago.  It was looked at by a home repair woman when I lived in Hokkaido in 2002..
A really awesome and totally random Japanese experience-- I was in my apartment and the doorbell rang.  I answered and found a woman there, asking if I had a sewing machine.  Huh?  I showed her to my machine and she said she'd check it out and give it a tune-up.  I said "Ok" and went back to my guests in the living room.  "How cool is this that sewing machine repair people make unsolicited house calls" I thought.  After she was done I thanked her and she left, then just wrote it off as one of the many cool-yet-bizarre experiences I was having in Japan.  It's only now, as I write the post that I realize I probably should have offered to pay her.. and with hindsight, the 32-year-old me really regrets missing out on this chance to talk sewing with a knowledgeable Japanese lady.
But anyway, back to the machine..
I haven't used it much since I got the Janome in '10, but I decided to get it cleaned up so I can bring it
 to our house in Athens.  The repair guy said I'll need a transformer for the power issue, but they sell them at the shop so I guess I'll just pick one up when I go back next week.  Has anyone dealt with this type of power issue before (bringing a machine to a country with a different wattage)?  I'd love some advice/guidance, thanks.
Since this is the machine I used since college, I treated both it and its case like I was some sort of folk singing guitar player, plastering stickers all over them. 

(February 2010-- he's really gotten big, huh?)

The lady at the repair shop gave me quite the look when I lifted the cover.  I got the same look again when I handed her my guild ID to get a discount.  She had never heard of the Modern Quilt Guild and asked if we had a newsletter.  "No,  but we've got a blog."  I told her to check it out because I'd really like to bridge the gap between "traditional" services/shops for quilters and the big, booming online quilting world.  I hope she takes the time to learn about what her customers are up to online..
So, I'm happy I finally took it in, and wonder why I waited so long.  The cost for service is actually less than I was expecting (provided nothing's broken), and I'm anxious to see how she runs after the tune-up.  Next in line is the Janome, which in 14 months has quite a few miles on it and the bobbin thread has started to get hooked on the feed dogs when I free-motion.  That's a problem I need to get fixed, but I couldn't take both machines at once, I'd have separation anxiety..